Missions

Living Word is active in, and strongly supports, mission and service in our community and around the world.

Serve Now

Living Word has chosen strategic partners, local agencies where we have established relationships and a plan in place for on-going service. Interested in serving in the church or any of the local missions below? Check out August 2018 Living Word Serves or click the button to sign up and help out!

Local Missions

Agape Help House

Agape Help House provides an on-site food pantry in Pacific, and assistance with utility bills, rent/mortgage assistance and pharmacy assistance to low income, disabled and elderly families. Email Rick Furgerson at rick@theaudiovideogroup.com for information on how to volunteer!

Meramec Elementary (Balancing The Scales)

Meramec Elementary School

Meramec Elementary is located 30 miles east of Living Word in South St. Louis City. Meramec has 228 students from Preschool – 5th grade. The goal of Balancing the Scales is to help the children of Meramec Elementary School reach their full potential.

Balancing the Scales partners Living Word with Meramec Elementary in St. Louis City providing tutors, reading buddies, gardeners, volunteers, supplies, clothing, food and other needed items. For more information or to get involved please contact Carol Jobe at carollanajobe@gmail.com.

Circle Of Concern

Circle of Concern feeds the hungry and provides assistance to low-income families living in west St. Louis County through a food pantry. Steve Ernst, our Missions Chairperson, has connected with this agency on several occasions and can help you get connected, too!

Equine-Assisted Therapy

Five Living Word members help weekly as horse leaders and sidewalkers during therapy classes every week. In addition to classes, adults and youth from Living Word have volunteered hundreds of hours doing building and maintenance projects for EAT. Projects have included weeding, painting, and cleaning tack in 100 degree weather! Living Word has donated a vehicle-load of snacks that are kept on hand at EAT for volunteers.

Haven House

Haven House provides the comfort of home and a community of support for families traveling to St. Louis for medical needs. David Evans led a group of volunteers recently as they worked on multiple projects. Visit the volunteer page to see opportunities or contact David Evans.

In June 2016 a team of Living Word volunteers provided lunch for 80 cyclists who were riding in an annual memorial event, Journey for Jordan. This event raised more than $50,000 for Haven House.

Many Living Word volunteers regularly spend time driving shuttle buses, maintaining the craft room and providing meals. The Living Word Men’s Club also donated $500 to Haven House.

King Foods

1 in 4 families struggle to find food to put on the dinner table. The state and local food banks do a great job, but they can only do so much. King Foods is a non-denominational organization dedicated to providing food relief to communities throughout the USA. The King Foods Program realizes that people today are struggling with the ever-increasing costs for the basics of life. There are NO memberships and NO income guidelines! Literally, everyone in our church and community is qualified to purchase from the program! “If you eat, you qualify!”

King Foods is able to provide families with quality, nutritious food for 40-60% less than retail store prices by buying food from first rate suppliers at substantial volume discounts. Each month the menu changes and consists of fresh, frozen and packaged food purchased from the nation’s top food suppliers. King Foods does not use outdated food or inferior products. Providing quality and nutritious food at significant discounts on a regular basis is one practical way to give people a “hand up” during difficult times.

Churches and organizations across the U.S. are able to reach out to their community through their participation with King Foods. As a host site we will provide a practical, non-threatening, yet life-giving way to impact others as customers return to our church each month to receive their food. They will often bring friends and relatives, and the members of our church will be able to engage with the visitors through the compassion of Jesus in a very real and genuine way. We will be able to feed our customer’s bodies, through King Foods, and feed their souls through our ministry. For more information or for volunteer opportunities, contact Kim Reed at 636-236-9547 or at kimreed320@gmail.com.

Retrievers and Friends of St. Louis

Retrievers & Friends of St. Louis is a non-profit, no-kill, all volunteer-based dog rescue serving the needs of homeless Retrievers and their canine friends. The dogs we serve have been abandoned, abused and neglected, or face certain death in high kill shelters. Others are family pets whose owners are no longer able to care for them.

Room At The Inn

On the second Thursday of every month, Living Word hosts up to ten guests, including single women and parents with children as a night site partner for Room At The Inn. We provide dinner, activities, sleeping accommodations, breakfast, and transportation back to their day site. To make this work, we need VOLUNTEERS! There are many volunteer roles with this ministry. For more information see Room at the Inn.

To sign up to help or learn more about volunteer opportunities with Room at the Inn, click here. For more information or questions about Living Word’s involvement with Room at the Inn, please contact Cheryl Jones at 314-630-2969 or jonesfoursome@sbcglobal.net.

Around The World

Ghana

October 2017 Ghana Mission Trip

October 2017 Pastor Daniel Shanks led a mission trip to Ghana. The six missionaries visited many projects that have been funded by gifts from The Ghana Project. The most recent project has been providing micro-flush latrines (toilets) in the Sandema-Abilyiri community in Ghana. The initial funding installed 20 latrines at 9 households. The Ghanians were very proud to show the missionaries their latrines. This project is making a difference by preventing the spread of disease that is common in Ghana. Contact Pastor David Israel at disrael@livingwordumc.org for more information.

Check out this video to experience a glimpse of what a mission trip to Ghana is like.

Living Word Answers God’s Call

In 2010, Living Word answered God’s call and entered into a relationship with the people of northern Ghana. After an initial exploratory trip to northern Ghana to discover what needs the villages had, Living Word formed The Ghana Project. The Ghana Project’s mission is to establish relationships with the people of northern Ghana, provide them with clean water and help with their spiritual growth, educational, medical and agricultural needs..

Slovakia

Living Word is in a covenant relationship with our sister church in Michalovce, Slovakia. Michalovce United Methodist Church is a small church with a big vision that is reaching out to bring the good news of Jesus Christ into the far eastern region of Slovakia where generations were raised in a secular culture, without knowledge of the love and grace of Jesus Christ. After the fall of the Soviets, the church has been working hard to bring the Good News to this part of the world. Pastor Stefan Rendos and all the people of Michalovce UMC are as excited to be working with us, as we are working with them. In July, eight members of Living Word led a music based evangelistic mission to Slovakia, and helped Michalovce UMC reach out to the Roma population, sharing with them the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Mexico

In July 2018, a team of 14 adults and youth completed the building of another home for a family.

“During my time here at Living Word I have had the opportunity to take three mission teams to Juarez Mexico to help build homes with our partnering agency, Proyecto Abrigo. Although we always build the same style of homes in the same way, the people we encounter and the blessings we receive are always new. The people of Juarez have always been welcoming and our teams have always grown in our learning and in our love for the Mexican people. When we serve together we grow together. I am proud to serve a community of faith that recognizes the value of serving others and I look forward to opportunities to serve together in the future.” Pastor Daniel Shanks

In May 2017, 9 adults traveled to Juarez, Mexico. The team was able to complete the building of a home for a family and begin work on a church.

In March 2017, 12 youth and 3 adults traveled to Juarez, Mexico. In four days this group was able to build a home for a family of five. The family was previously living in a structure made of pieces of plywood and cardboard. The family was overjoyed to be able to live in a real home! The Living Word mission team was able to interact with the family and really make a connection.

In January 2016, a team of 11 people from Living Word traveled to Juarez, Mexico and helped with clean up from a fire that destroyed part of a home of an elderly couple, Hector and Zoyla. Hector’s small appliance and radio repair was totally destroyed. They were able to build a wall and replace the roof.

Rev. Jose Luis Portillo founded Proyecto Abrigo, an ecumenical organization, in 1996 for home building. Previously he had founded Operation Home. Between the two organizations, Jose Luis, with help from Proyecto Abrigo and Operation Home, has been responsible for building several thousand homes, five churches, a medical clinic, a vocational school, and community center since 1992.

Compassion International

Compassion International is a Christian humanitarian aid child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world. To learn more about Compassion, please visit www.compassioninternational.org or contact Don Short at donshort2215@gmail.com.

Mozambique

Mission: Partnering to transform people and their communities toward the image of Christ.

Other Missions

BackPack Attack

For seven years Living Word Church has been partnering with the Rockwood School District to serve the needs of local families who cannot afford to purchase school supplies for their elementary age children. It is a mission that allows our community to be important in the life of a child.

We purchase new backpacks and school supplies to support this annual program. The Rockwood School District invites families to our church to pick out a new backpack, fill it with new school supplies, have lunch, participate in fun activities and feel special.

Since we started Backpack Attack in 2011 we have provided backpacks and school supplies to over 1,850 students in our community. We wouldn’t expect to go to work and do our jobs without the proper resources. The same can be true for students as they prepare for their most important job – learning.

Free the Girls

Living Word has partnered with Free the Girls by becoming a donation site for bra collection and monetary donations to support shipping costs. Make checks payable to Living Word, “Free the Girls” in the memo!

Free the Girls is a nonprofit organization that provides job opportunities for survivors of sex trafficking in developing countries such as Mozambique and El Salvador.

Your donation of gently used/new bras provides inventory to these women, allowing them to sell the bras and make a living while they recover and rebuild their lives.

Love Packages

House cleaning?? Put Bibles and Christian literature to good use! Since 2013 the Evans Life Group continue to collect items for Love Packages, Butler, IL, http://www.lovepackages.org/. They ship items to churches and missionaries around the world, including Ghana. See website for list of items.
Please place items in marked bin in Room 204. Loy and Darlene Sloan deliver your donations monthly. At present they have 180 lbs. ready to go! Since 2013 Living Word has contributed 1,914 lbs! Love Packages shipped approx.1000+ tons in 2016. Questions? Please contact Loy Sloan atlasloan@metco.com. Groups may also go to Butler, IL to help sort/pack and stay overnight if needed! Thank You!